1. Field of the Invention
This disclosure relates generally to multi-focal displays.
2. Description of Related Art
Multi-focal displays (MFDs) typically use rapid temporal and focal modulation of a series of 2-dimensional images to render 3-dimensional (3D) scenes that occupy a certain 3D volume. This series of images is typically focused at parallel planes positioned at different, discrete distances from the viewer. The number of focal planes directly affects the viewers' eye accommodation and 3D perception quality of a displayed scene. If a given 3D scene is continuous in depth, too few planes may make the MFD rendering look piecewise with discontinuities between planes or result in contrast loss. More planes is typically better in terms of perceptual quality, but can be more expensive to implement and often may not be achievable because of practical display limitations including bandwidth and focal modulation speed.
Therefore, an important consideration for MFDs is the focal plane configuration, including the number of focal planes and the location of the focal planes (that is, distances from the viewer). Multi-focal displays typically use focal plane configurations where the number and location of focal planes are fixed. Often, the focal planes are uniformly spaced. This one size fits all approach does not take into account differences in the scenes to be displayed and the result can be a loss of spatial resolution and perceptual accuracy.
Thus, there is a need for better approaches to determining focal plane configuration.